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March 27, 2015

Friday Round Up - 27 March, 2015

This week on Friday Round Up - a photo essay on the Maldives by local photographer Ashwa Faheem, exhibitions in Milan and the UK, Tim Laffey at Blackeye, last chance for Peter Milne and Michael Williams in Melbourne, Heidi Levine awarded inaugural Anja Niedringhaus Award and Alfred Fried and Kaunas Photo 2015 call for entries.

Award:

Inaugural Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism

(C)Warrick Page/International Women's Media Foundation/AP

Heidi Levine, an independent American photojournalist based in Jerusalem, has been awarded the inaugural Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. This Award, administered by the International Women’s Media Foundation, was instituted in honour of Pulitzer prize winning AP photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus who was killed by a gunman in Afghanistan last year, where she was reporting on the national elections.

Levine, a mother of three, has spent two decades covering both sides of the conflict in Gaza. "Her courage and commitment to the story in Gaza is unwavering," the award jury said of Levine's body of work. "She documents tragic events under dire circumstances while displaying a depth of compassion for the people she encounters".

Master Bedroom - a father of six seen
sleeping in his room without a mattress

"Living Spaces is a photo story about the people living in limited spaces in Male, the capital city of Maldives - one of the most densely populated pieces of land on Earth,” says local photographer Ashwa Faheem.

For the past two years this young photojournalist has travelled through the tiny islands that make up the Maldives to document the circumstances of the local people and the migrant workers, who live beyond the gaze of tourists. Her view is not the Maldives of the tourist brochures with pristine azure waters, white sands and luxury resorts. In 'Living Spaces' Ashwa shows how many locals struggle to survive, crammed into tiny, rundown spaces.

Narrow Living - after an evening shower, a son stands to tok with is mother

in a narrow corridor which serves as the living room of their house in Male

Confined Privacy - Under a 5ft ceiling a daughter and mother rest in their respective bedrooms

Sleeping Shift - a man sits on the bed
where he sleeps.

A lot of the men take turns to sleep in order to share their
limited sleeping space

Dreamer - a lot of children grow up not knowing the luxury of a proper home

A Family’s Room - the room where a father, a mother and a newborn share, with all their possessions(C) All photos and captions Ashwa Faheem

In another series 'Wastelands', she documents the artificial island of Thilafushi, which acts as the rubbish dump for Male, where more than 5000 workers from Bangladesh and India work and live in what she calls “one of the most dangerous and toxic environments imaginable”.

(C) All photos Ashwa Faheem

Of her work she says, “At the end of the day I don't think that you can ever truly capture the chaos, which the victims of social injustice live through daily. As photojournalists I think that it is very important to not just photograph them, but also to live with them…I hope to bring a positive change to the lives of people through my work".

Exhibitions:Milan:

Brassaï – Pour l’amour de Paris

This exhibition pays homage to one of the most inspirational, and intuitive, photographers of the last century and one of my personal favourites. Brassaï’s love affair with photographing Paris began in 1929 and lasted for more than fifty years. If you are fortunate enough to be in Milan make this exhibition a must-see.

On first glance you could be forgiven for thinking these images are stills from the hit TV series Downton Abbey, but they are in fact photographs of Holkham Hall Estate, which spans 23,000 acres on the Norfolk coast in England and dates back to the 1700s.

Over a year, Magnum photographer, Chris Steele-Perkins photographed at Holkham Hall documenting the Estate's activities including hunting, shooting, concerts and weddings. He also photographed the numerous workers that form the backbone of day to day life on the Estate.

This body of work, which was published last year as 'A Place in the Country' by Dewi Lewis, will be on exhibition at Holkham Hall during the visitors season, which opens on 29th March.

(C) All images Chris Steele-Perkins

Lord of the manor, Viscount Coke said, “We are essentially a very private family so it was a big step to invite someone in to be a part of life at Holkham for 12 months. Holkham in this generation is a fascinating mix of business interests and custodian responsibilities. We must develop new ideas and create new income streams while maintaining the great heritage we have at Holkham. We also have a big responsibility to conserve the many aspects of the estate from conservation of wildlife and landscapes to caring for great works of art and historic furniture and furnishings. This can only be achieved through teamwork and we are fortunate to have such excellent teams looking after everything at Holkham. We hope this new exhibition will provide a real insight into the life of our estate and the people behind it.”

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A journalist for over 25 years, Alison Stieven-Taylor is currently a features writer for Pro Photo magazine, a contributor to The Australian Weekend Magazine, The Australian Financial Review and the Oceanic correspondent for L’Oeil de la Photographie amongst other titles. Alison is also a lecturer in journalism and holds a Master of Communication and Media Studies (Monash University). She is currently working on her PhD on photojournalism. Alison is also the author of three books including the best-selling biography “Rock Chicks: The Hottest Female Rockers from the1960s to Now”.